164 Md. App. 679 - Jackson v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

43 state decisions

Most-quoted passages

The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 43 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “The distinction between “impeaching” and “merely impeaching,” albeit nuanced, is pivotally important. Newly discovered evidence that a State’s witness had a number of convictions for crimes involving truth and veracity or had lied on a number of occasions about other matters might have a bearing on that witness’s testimonial credibility, but would not have a direct bearing on the merits of the trial under review. Such evidence would constitute collateral impeachment and would, therefore, be “merely impeaching.” If the newly discovered evidence was that the State’s witness had been mistaken, or even deliberately false, about inconsequential details that did to [sic] go to the core question of guilt or innocence, such evidence would offer peripheral contradiction and would, therefore, be “merely impeaching.” If the newly discovered evidence, on the other hand, was that the State’s witness had actually testified falsely on the core merits of the case under review, that evidence, albeit coincidentally impeaching, would be directly exculpatory evidence on the merits and could not, therefore, be dismissed as “merely impeaching.””

   4 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. State v. Hunt & Hardy · 224 Md. App. 99 - Snead v. State

2. “based on events that happen in the course of the trial; such as, e.g., rulings on admissibility, potential trial error that may or may not be recognized at the time of occurrence, jury instructions, jury behavior, etc. These events are of a type that will ordinarily happen under the direct eye of the trial judge. For that reason, subsection (a) expressly provides that the trial judge may order a new trial "in the interest of justice" for it is he who has his thumb on the pulse of the trial and is in a unique position to assess the significance of such events. In Buck v. Cam's Rugs, 328 Md. 51, 57 , 612 A.2d 1294 (1992), Judge McAuliffe stressed that the range of the trial judge's discretion is accordingly at its broadest when it involves "the judge's evaluation" of "the core question of whether justice has been done." We are obliged to consider the breadth of discretion that is afforded a trial judge in making this type of decision. As we have seen in tracing the history of our treatment of this issue, the emphasis has consistently been upon granting the broadest range of discretion to trial judges whenever the decision has necessarily depended upon the judge's evaluation of the character of the testimony and of the trial when the judge is considering the core question of whether justice has been done.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. 191 Md. App. 48 - Washington v. State · Washington v. State

3. “(b) Items Taken to Jury Room. Sworn jurors may take their notes with them when they retire for deliberation. Unless the court for good cause orders otherwise, the jury may also take the charging document and exhibits that have been admitted in evidence, except that a deposition may not be taken into the jury room without the agreement of all parties and the consent of the court. Electronically recorded instructions or oral instructions reduced to writing may be taken into the jury room only with the permission of the court. On request of a party or on the court’s own initiative, the charging documents shall reflect only those charges on which the jury is to deliberate. The court may impose safeguards for the preservation of the exhibits and the safety of the jury. (c) Jury Request to Review Evidence. The court, after notice to the parties, may make available to the jury testimony or other evidence requested by it. In order that undue prominence not be given to the evidence requested, the court may also make available additional evidence relating to the same factual issue.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the concurrence
   e.g. 183 Md. App. 188 - Adams v. State